Hong Kong & Guangdong Surfing

Mention Hong Kong and most people think big city shopping, skyscrapers, crowded streets and junks jostling in the harbour. Somehow surfing doesn't seem to fit into the picture, but that's because all the surf is at least an hours drive away and set in a much more peaceful rural setting. Although some reefbreaks can produce some quality waves, they require very specific conditions, so many of these remain a secret and beachbreaks are the norm in Hong Kong. It's generally agreed that GI's like Derek Bailey were the first to surf Big Wave Bay, Hong Kong in the 1960?s. By the 1970s he was one of a dozen local surfers including lifeguards, but when Australian expatriate Rod Payne tried to paddle out there in 1979, he was removed from the water by police. The national government contracted Peter Drouyn in 1985 and he began giving lessons to a group of Chinese student/gymnasts in Hainan. Californians and Hawaiians followed the mainland trail and meanwhile surfing had taken root in Hong Kong, culminating in the founding of the HK Surfing Association In 1997.